Pure Hearts
by Maculifera
Summary: After accidentally teleporting to Heiron from Earth, Tiny not only loses her brother Toby to a rift, she is also sent to Poeta to "prevent her from getting into trouble". But Tiny is not willing to obey the Daeva. Universe Alteration. Rated M for violence/language/possibly naughty things later on.
1. Involuntary Teleport

Jokingly, my brother and I wondered what it would be like to live in Atreia, and we opted for different places.

I was fond of Elysea, thinking I would stand a chance as an artist there, or maybe a writer, while my brother thought Asmodae fit him well, harsh lands challenging his survival skills and giving him yet another reason to always carry a sword.

I also had more experience with the game, having played a good two hundred hours, while my brother had only endured my fangirling. Sorry, Toby. I'm not sorry at all.

"Tiny," Toby said on one of our walks through the woods, "have we been here before? Shouldn't there be a pond here?"

I looked around and decided that, yes, in fact, we were in a part of the forest neither of us had seen before. Why we ended up here was a mystery to me. The woods around the village we lived in weren't really that big anymore after succumbing to modern machines in favour of farmland.

"Did we get lost?"

"We never get lost, Toby. You know this forest better than me, and even I never get lost. It's not _possible_ to get lost here."

"You're probably right," he said, but his hand moved to the hilt of the katana he always carried with him on these walks.

Something rustled in the bushes. Only now did I realize that our surroundings had been dead silent before. Humans never walk silently, especially in a forest. But the leaves under our feet hadn't made a sound.

A growl echoed from the trees around us, and another answered, then another. I doubted, by that time, that we were still at home in our little Northern European joke of a forest.

Slowly, a snout crept out of the branches in front of us, and before I could go "Awww!" at the sight of a worg, Toby had stepped between the animal and me, sword drawn.

"By what you've told me, these things are not friendly. Is that correct?"

"Well, if your level is at least twenty above theirs, they won't attack."

"Tiny, we are level one."

"Shit. You're right. Where's my spell book when I need it?"

The first worg leapt at us, and kissed a blade. That katana wasn't just for show. But the worg also did not die. It fell to the ground and whimpered, and apparently that angered the other two worgs enough to say "Well, fuck that, they got Timmy. They die."

Safe to say, things didn't go that way. I dodged the second worg's attack, grabbed a dead branch from the ground and swung it at the third worg, while the second succumbed to my brother's blade. The branch broke, the worg went down, and the air started flickering in a blueish light above it.

"Loot! Heck yes, loot," I shouted, and, following what seemed like an instinct (but wasn't, as this way of looting does not and will likely never exist in the world we evolved in), reached out to the light with my left hand.

A control panel appeared in the light, and I tapped the "Select All" field in the down right corner of it. Thick Rawhide and a Worg Claw. Material and misc to sell.

Following my example, my brother looted the two worgs he had cut down. I decided at that point that ending up in a strange video game world wasn't so bad.


	2. Reaching Safety

Despite our recent success in battle, my brother and I moved slowly and carefully through the forest. I have to admit that I trailed behind a bit, admiring our surroundings and trying not to trip over tree roots.

"Y'know, brother, this isn't so bad. Except that I'm hungry by now. And thirsty. How long has it been? Hours? Toby? Toby?!"

Great. He wasn't responding. And I also didn't hear him anymore. Had something eaten him? Unlikely. He was about six feet tall, maybe a little more, bulky, and he had a sword with him.

"Toby," I said again, quiet this time. "Where'd you go? Hey, this isn't - Oh shit."

I felt a strange stir in the air. And it was glowing softly. Had there been a rift? This forest didn't seem like it was in Asmodae, but if a rift had opened up, it was more than likely my brother walked right through it.

"Jesus fucking Christ. Not now. And what is this stench?" I had reached a part of the forest that seemed very much dead, and I thought I saw some monsters crawling around.

Swamp replaced bushes between trees as I walked. The smell got worse, too, and I almost got into a gnarl's aggro range because I didn't see it at first. Stupid camouflage.

I saw less and less trees now, but mountains came into view to my right, and I found a wide path. That meant I was on the way to civilisation. Hopefully.

I spotted a giant tree almost directly ahead of me, and reckognized now the area I was in. I was approaching Arbolu's Haven. And I had survived the Deathsong Forest so far. Yay for me.

As I was nearing the eastern entrance to Arbolu's Haven, a rotting zombie spotted me. Why exactly had I not trained running? That stupid thing nearly got to me, and by the time I reached the safe zone and two elementals took care of the undead, I was desperately gasping for air while also trying not to throw up. Rotten flesh kind of has that effect on people.

I was quickly taken in by the priests at the Haven, and after I had recovered from my "journey", I was sent to the flight transporter to be brought to the New Heiron Gate. No one offered to help find my brother, as nice as everyone was, assuming that he'd ended up in Asmodae, dead or worse.

"You guys are great at cheering me up," I snarled at one of the Daevas, a drunkard who suggested that Toby was now an undead pawn of an Asmodian. Asshole.

The flight transporter whose name I didn't bother remembering brought me to New Heiron Gate without me dying or fainting because I was so damn scared of height. Five stars for you, I thought, and, after throrough questioning, continued my journey to Poeta. Might as well get a job to distract me from worrying about my missing brother, they thought.

And I couldn't really pose any threat in Poeta. But, boy, did they get that last part wrong.


	3. Fateful Encounter

I had spent possibly three months in Poeta, chasing Kerubs, (re-)stealing their crops, training to handle myself in a fight with daggers and a bow.

I liked both weapon types, so I kept them when I decided that I wanted to go to Verteron. Ascension was not likely for me, but I knew that the Aether Flow was stronger in Verteron than in Poeta.

After an especially repetetive day I packed my belongings (I had actually carried them in my inventory all the time, and made enough money to expand to the first row of the first cube) and, with the money I had left, paid for a teleport to Verteron Fortress. Which was a mistake. I had forgotten how bad I was at dealing with people and noise.

Verteron Citadel was not vert appealing to me, but I needed the creatures here to level u-- I mean, to train. I had discovered that, while I could comfortably loot slain enemies (that vanished into thin air after looting), I apparently gained practical experience rather than game XP. Which was fine with me. It meant I could use any kind of weapon, likely, without having to painfully level up to use it. It also meant that I would have to train with every weapon I wanted to use, and first and foremost I wanted to use magic. Maybe enhance my daggers and the bow. Maybe switch to spellbooks or orbs.

I was able to control Aether to the point that I used it to form the arrows I shot, or enhance the strength of my attacks, and I was hoping for further development of this. I had played a Spiritmaster, after all, because magic suited me best.

"Learning by doing," I muttered, slicing up a slink and collecting its meat and claws as loot. I would have to get myself some warehouse space, at least for materials, but that would have to wait. Someone said I could only get that as a Daeva, and I was still cross with their kind. Arrogant immortals had thought themselves so far above humans that they didn't even want to investigate the area in which my brother went missing.

I spat into the sand and walked back to the Citadel and sold the misc items I had collected in the last two days since my arrival, and turned to walk to the house I was a guest in, when someone tapped my shoulder. I almost drew my daggers - they looked worse for wear now, I was saving up to buy new ones - but I would not have stood a chance against the Daeva that told me I was lucky. Apparently I had made an impact of some kind, either through my efforts or my odd background story, and I was invited to Sanctum. Which was great.

I had managed to sneak around the Ascension Quest, somehow, and was going to get my wings.


	4. Training Partners

I would like to skip the Ascension Ceremony, mainly because I tried so hard to not have an anxiety attack because of all the people (I was reciting poems and songs under my breath most of the time) that I didn't pay attention to most of what was happening.

After the ceremony was over, Jucleas, apparently concerned for my sanity, asked me, "Are you certain you are well? You still seem nervous, Tiny."

"It could always be worse," I said, "At least I can now upgrade my weapons and armour and search for my brother. Because other Daevas didn't even think of investigating his disappearance."

"Spite is a good motivator, but not something that will keep you alive. Should your brother have truly fallen to Asmodians, you will have to fight harder than ever before."

"That's why I've been training for the past months. If no one wants to help me, I have to help myself. Do not concern yourself with me, Jucleas, I will be fine once I touch earth and leave the people behind."

"Not social, eh," a voice behind me said. It sounded like the speaker was smirking. I turned around slowly.

"I am Anthreptes. Nice to meet you, Tiny. Want to train with me? I need a break from hunting Balaur."

I may have stared, and my jaw may have dropped. Anthrepted was the name of my Spiritmaster. And she had just offered to train me. I may have also said "Squeee" very quietly. Possibly "holy shit" too. Of course I agreed.

Anthreptes made me her room mate in her studio in Oriel, where most of our training would happen for the next weeks. Having an experienced fighter and her spirits, mostly her wind spirit (so adorable and badass, holy wow!) as my trainers helped me grow. Aside from teaching me about muscles I hadn't known existed. But she also refused to help me search for Toby.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but if he is in Asmodian territory, as you assume, I won't be helping you much. I can get you there, but the rest of the way will be lonely. And dangerous. I have to get back to Heiron soon, the Balaur are advancing again, but you're always welcome here in my studio."

That was a very polite way of saying "Nope, gotta go". I bade here farewell and promised to cherish the memories we had made, and to remember her lessons, and then I left her again.


	5. Altgard

Anthreptes did get me to Asmodae. She also left immediately, leaving me by myself in a rather unwelcoming environment. We had gone through a rift, then travelled, and now I was in the mountains south of Altgard, judging by the bitter cold and all the mountains around me. Great.

Only the Asmodians would recognize I was from Elysea, likely, which meant I had to be extra over-the-top careful.

Should I be caught, however, I would likely be able to surprise the Asmodians at least a little bit - I was a woman in a man's armour. Because female armour, in most cases, sucked. A lot. Daevanion Patrol's Tunic? A pink dress. With a ribbon on the back. Just covering the butt. Who was supposed to survive a battle in that? And, Lord in the Heavens above, it sparkled. You were leaving a trail of sparkle behind you.

The armour I was wearing, granted, was useless to me. It wasn't made to withstand cold, and I needed to be at least in a not-freezing-to-death state if I wanted this mission to get anywhere. So I opened my inventory with a twist of my left hand, selected a set of winter clothing - coat, boots without high heels, thick woollen trousers and the hoodie I had been wearing when I first came to Atreia - and changed into it. Happened by tapping the item twice, a kind of magic I would have really liked to see in the real world. Need to change clothes real quick? Tap 'em. Done.

The cold was somewhat bearable now, but to keep warm I had to keep moving. And to keep moving I had to risk exposing myself to Asmodians. They could probably smell that I had been with Elyos for a long time, and I wasn't keen on being discovered just after I arrived here. I didn't even know if Toby was here, he could be anywhere on Asmodae, or in the Abyss, or he had just gone home and was worrying about me now.

I also had to traverse the mountains to get closer to Altgard Fortress, where I would be able to fly. I had practiced flying with Anthreptes, but I was by far not fit enough to hold my own in a battle against other flying enemies.

Sighing, I decided to test my luck. Maybe, I thought, I would return home if I died, as I hadn't bound myself to an Obelisk, and I had no Kisk with me to not die in Asmodae. But that theory would be the very last to test.

I climbed and hiked for hours, or so it seemed, and the sky got lighter as dawn approached. Still exhausted, I thought it best to rest, protected from wind and view in a crack in the stone just wide enough to fit me. I must have fallen asleep, because it was even brighter outside when I opened my eyes again. In my inventory I selected some cold broiled qooqoo as my lunch, had some (fortunately not frozen) water, and left my little hideout to continue my way.


End file.
